A Blooming Rose (hunger games fan-fic)

Chapter 13 (Day 8)

Rose slowly opened her eyes. She expected to find herself lying in a stream, but found herself covered in a blanket in a small cave. The cave door was covered in leaves and rocks so it appeared there was nothing there. Rose tried to sit up, but found it nearly impossible. It hurt way too much for her, but she managed to get herself to sit against the rocky wall.

How did I get here? she wondered. There's no way I crawled out of the stream by myself.

As if to answer her question, the camouflage door opened and a girl a year or two older than her entered. She was a ginger with dark green eyes.

District 10.

She looked at Rose and smiled.

"You're up," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright," Rose replied.

Suddenly, there was the shot of a cannon. The girls looked at each other for a moment before the girl went back to work.

"What happened last night?" Rose asked.

"You passed out in the stream. I heard you coming and when I looked outside, I saw you rolling down the hill. I waited until you were laying there for a while to get you; since no cannon went off, I figured you weren't dead."

Rose smiled slightly.

"Yeah, well, good for me."

Did she see? Did she see my gills? She couldn't have. It was dark out. There's no way she could've saw.

Rose watched as the girl put roots and berries into a small pot. Rose also screamed when she saw one of the berries that the girl was going to reach for to add.

"Don't use that!" she said.

The girl froze and stared at her.

"What?"

"Don't use that kind of berry. It's Nightlock; it will kill you almost instantly if you eat it."

The girl dropped the berries and put them aside.

"Thanks for the warning."

Rose studied the girl.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Chrysa," the girl replied. "I'm from District Ten."

"Another neighbor," Rose half-laughed.

Chrysa smiled and threw a few other foods into the pot. She stood up and walked over to Rose, then sat back down.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked. "It was kinda chilly last night."

Rose nodded and moved over a little for her. Chrysa got under the blanket and the two sat in silence for a long time. Eventually, Chrysa lifted the edge of her shirt over her mouth and pretended to cough.

"How did you do that?" she whispered.

Rose stared blankly at her.

"Do what?" she whispered back, doing the same action.

"Last night you grew gills in the river."

Rose froze.

"You saw?"

Chrysa nodded and smiled.

"I won't tell anyone. Who would there be to tell? The Capitol? The other tributes?"

Rose sighed and leaned her head against the wall. Soon, the broth was done and the two ate the mix.

"That's incredible," Rose said once they finished.

"Thanks."

~

The sun had begun to set and Chrysa stood up.

"Where are you going?" Rose asked.

"I'm off to check my traps. I've set up a whole bunch and want to see if I got any kills. Do you want to come?"

"No thanks, Chrysa. I'll stay here. I could use the rest."

Chrysa nodded and left the cave, closing up the entrance again before she disappeared.

Not even ten minutes later, Rose was startled by the shot of a cannon.

Who could that have been? Was it one of the Careers? It couldn't have been Chrysa. I'll have to wait and see. No doubt Chrysa heard it too and is on her way back.

Rose waited for hours for Chrysa to return, but she never did. Rose heard the anthem begin to play so she moved towards the cave door. She saw Vanil's face in the sky.

It's because he let me escape. They found out and killed him.

The next face horrified Rose. It was Chrysa. Rose closed the door to the cave and crawled back into her make-shift bed. She had pulled out the sleeping bag and now climbed in. She closed her eyes and allowed silent tears to fall from her eyes. She knew her eyes would be changing colors and she did not want to risk the Capitol seeing.

Slowly, Rose fell asleep, still crying.